


Back on Top

by MiloAaronRichie



Category: IT (Movies - Muschietti), IT - Stephen King
Genre: Alcohol, Alcohol Abuse/Alcoholism, Alternate Universe - No Pennywise (IT), Back on Top (album), Beach House, Ben Hanscom Loves Beverly Marsh, Beverly Marsh & Richie Tozier Are Best Friends, Canon Jewish Character, Cocaine, Drug Use, Gay, Los Angeles, M/M, Mentioned Tom Rogan - Freeform, Motorcycles, Oblivious Eddie Kaspbrak, Recreational Drug Use, Reddie, Richie Tozier Flirts, Richie Tozier Loves Eddie Kaspbrak, Richie Tozier Needs a Hug, Richie Tozier is a Little Shit, Richie Tozier is a Mess, Stanley Uris is a Good Friend, Tooth-Rotting Fluff, Young Adult Losers Club (IT), more tags to be added with more chapters, night swimming, the front bottoms - Freeform
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2021-01-29
Updated: 2021-02-05
Packaged: 2021-03-15 10:29:08
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 6,331
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29062860
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/MiloAaronRichie/pseuds/MiloAaronRichie
Summary: "Now, most people were old enough to know better and never drank themself to sleep almost every night… but Richie isn’t most people."ORRichie Tozier is a drug addict, but when he meets back up with his friends, they make him feel worse, then a little better.(This is based on the album Back on Top by The Front Bottoms, but you don't need to listen to it to enjoy)
Relationships: Eddie Kaspbrak & Richie Tozier, Eddie Kaspbrak/Richie Tozier, Patricia Blum Uris/Stanley Uris
Comments: 4
Kudos: 11





	1. Motorcycle

**Author's Note:**

> This is based on the album Back on Top by The Front Bottoms, but you don't need to listen to it to enjoy... I do recommend listening to it for background noise though :))

It wasn’t the most convenient way to get around LA, but hot damn was it the coolest. Richie had traded his 2009 Toyota Corolla and a shit ton of money in for a fucking motorcycle. After college, Richie changed more than he thought he would. He went from a stupid hippie aestetic, to a grungy skater aestetic, and now to the odd midlife crisis vibe he had going on at 28. None of the Loser’s had seen each other since junior year of college, and now they finally had the time. It had been about 5 years since the last time they were all together, so Richie didn’t quite know what to expect. Luckily, he had plenty of time to contemplate. In the blazing LA sun, he was stuck in traffic on Sunset on his brand new black motorcycle. Looking at it now, it probably wasn’t his brightest decision, but it looked cool and made him happy. If something other than drugs or alcohol made Richie happy, then it was damn worth keeping. He didn’t know how his friends would react to that, either. Richie drank a lot in college, but so did everyone else. 

Now, most people were old enough to know better and never drank themself to sleep almost every night… but Richie isn’t most people. Richie snapped out of his own head again as he noticed the cars around him started to move. He’d only moved two feet in ten minutes, but then again, he’d sat through worse. He missed the AC in his shitty, boring, old car, but there was a light breeze, so the heat wasn’t unbearable. The cars stopped moving and he once again was a sitting duck. 

He started thinking about the Losers again and what they’d been doing. He’d heard things about a few of his friends and he’d texted them every now and again, but he hadn’t even had a single phone call with any of them since Bill accidentally called him drunk on the Fourth of July two years ago. He knew a few things though, but only the important things he needed kept in the loop about. He knew that Stan had been dating Patty for a while and was thinking about proposing soon. Stan started dating her the year after they graduated college. Richie had never met her, but he would soon and he’s heard nothing but good things. Bill finally had a book on the New York Times Best Seller List. He and Mike started dating about a year ago, but Richie only knew that from their Instagrams. Bev had a friend helping her with her design career and they started a company together. She had met him at a fashion show a short time ago and they hit it off immediately, which killed Richie’s hopes for a magnificent Marsh/Hanscom wedding. Ben seemed happy though, even though he was mostly alone, other than his dog. He was an architect and last Richie knew, he had been designing some buildings somewhere in Utah. Lastly, there was Eddie. Eddie got engaged. That one hurt Richie a bit, but he understood. Eddie was absolutely fucking perfect, and he was surprised that there were people that wouldn’t want him. They haven’t set a date for the wedding, but Eddie said he’d call everyone when they do. Traffic crept forward again and Richie moved with it.

All of his friends seemed content with their lives, so why couldn’t he be? Richie was still doing all the drugs he had in college, not to mention he even had prescriptions for some of them now. Richie was a bit of an alcoholic, but right now, he was totally sober. He didn’t want to get drunk and then fuck up after not seeing his friends for half a decade. He was a little shaky, but nothing he couldn’t manage. He was alone and the only people he even talked to on a regular basis were PAs with him at some point. He would find an opening to be a PA every now and again, but as of now, he had no solid job. He had an agent, but that was as far as he’d gotten. Steve told Richie that he was looking through auditions for him, but that was months ago. He’s got enough money to get him by and he still gets a little each week from different things, but he’s really tired of waiting for his comedy career to take flight. Richie got caught up in all of these thoughts and hadn’t even noticed traffic was moving decently until every car behind him started honking. He quickly took off and within another 20 minutes, he arrived at a burger place the group had all agreed on. He parked his bike, took off his helmet, and adjusted his leather jacket.

“It’s, like, a thousand degrees and you’re still wearing that fucking jacket?” A hot-headed voice said from behind him.

“Eddie Spaghetti!” Richie yelled as he smothered him in a hug.

“It’s hot as hell, get the fuck off me,” Eddie complained, but put up no real fight, “everyone else is already inside, c’mon.”

Eddie walked through the door of the restaurant and Richie took his time to admire the man. He looked different, but not at all in a bad way. His hair was a bit longer than it usually was, and it was swooped slightly to one side. He still had on a polo shirt, but now instead of his running shorts, he was wearing khakis. 

‘No wonder he’s fucking boiling,’ Richie thought to himself. 

Eddie looked good. It drove Richie insane.

Richie caught a glimpse of his reflection in the windows as they walked in. He looked a little rougher than he would have liked. Heavy 5 o’clock shadow, unruly hair that was in desperate need of a haircut. No wonder he was single. He turned his attention to the ground and followed Eddie to where he assumed their table would be. 

He snapped his head up when he heard an uproar of cheers from around him. Beverly immediately wrapped him in a bone-crushing hug, which he quickly returned. 

“I’ve missed you, you fucker!” She yelled. 

Richie laughed and pried her off of him to see everyone else. Mike and Bill were holding hands, but pulled apart to hug Richie and Eddie as they entered the building. Ben sat down his beer and waited (like the gentleman he is) in the line of their friends to give hugs. Lastly, there was Stan and his date, who Richie could only assume was Patty. 

Richie walked up to Stan with a shit-eating grin on his face. Stan smiled back, but raised his eyebrows at him.

“Stanley Urine!” Richie yelled with open arms. Stan gave Richie a hug as Richie gave him a sloppy kiss on the cheek.

“You are absolutely disgusting,” Stan said while wiping his cheek with his hand, but still wouldn’t stop smiling.

“You must be Richie,” Probably Patty giggled. 

“The one and only.” He smiled at her. 

“Patty Blum,” Patty introduced herself as she gave Richie a hug.

They all finally sat down at their table and ordered drinks. Richie was a little shakier now, so he was hoping the beer he ordered would help him a bit. 

“So, after lunch, I was thinking we all should go to Pacific Park, sound good?” Beverly said as the waitress came back with their drinks.

Everyone nodded and conversations started throughout the whole group. Richie eagerly picked up his beer and took a sizeable drink.

“How have you been Rich?” Eddie asked as he turned to his right.

“Fantastic, what about you Spaghetti?” Richie quickly answered. He wasn’t going to risk breaking down in tears because Eddie found out about his drug abuse over the past year. 

“Fine, I guess. I’ve been better though,” Eddie said with a sigh.

“Oh, poor Eds, I’m sure not having me around has been a  **huge** bummer, huh?” RIchie laughed.

“I called off my engagement.” Eddie said suddenly. 

Richie choked on his drink a bit and took a second to recover.

“Shit,” Was all he managed to get out.

“Yeah, I didn’t really love her. I mean, she wouldn’t even kiss me anymore. She said it would be ‘extremely special’ if we just waited til the wedding.” Eddie said with air quotes and an eye roll. He took a large sip of his own beer.

“Sorry, dude, that sucks,” Richie said. I mean, what the fuck was he supposed to say, ‘I love you and I’m happy you didn’t love her’?

“Eh, don’t be. Let’s talk about you though, I’m sure you’ve got people falling for you left and right.” Eddie laughed.

Richie barked out a laugh. Then two. Then three. Then the whole table was staring because he was laughing hysterically. Once he calmed down a bit and wiped the tears from his eyes, he spoke again.

“Eds, come on, who would want… this?” He asked while giving a little laugh and gesturing to his body.

Eddie mumbled something while staring at his drink and Richie went quiet. He crossed a line, right? That’s all Eddie grumbled about. He was overthinking this. Eddie wasn’t blushing. He was just imagining things.

“What can I get for you guys today?” A voice behind Richie asked. He jumped a little and turned around. The waitress smiled gently at him and he smiled back as Stan started ordering. 

Richie ended up spacing out a bit and only tuned back in when he heard Eddie droning on about something. He was holding up three fingers and kept adding more as he rattled things off. With each supposed allergy that was listed, the waitress seemed to get more and more frazzled.

“I got this,” Richie butted in during Eddie’s rant.

Eddie gaped at Richie as he ordered them both the biggest burger the place had to offer. The waitress thanked him gratefully and walked back to the kitchen.

“Dude!” Eddie yelled, “What if i go into shock or something!?!”

“You’ll be fine,” Richie laughed and slung his arm around Eddie’s shoulder. Eddie leaned into the touch a bit and sat content like that until their food arrived. 

Eddie ended up eating his entire burger.

“Stan tells me so much about all of you, I’m happy I finally get to put faces to the names.” Patty said joyfully while she stole a few of Stan’s onion rings.

“We could tell you quite a bit about Stan too.” Bev said as she raised her beer to her lips.

“But maybe you shouldn’t?” Stan asked with a big fake smile.

“Stanny here’s a Jew, which means he’s really smart and says Oy a lot.” Richie said with an awful accent.

Everyone laughed while Stan reached over and smacked Richie in the back of the head.

“You know what we should try to find!?!” Bill suddenly exclaimed.

“What?” Mike asked as he turned.

“A picture of Stan in that little boy scouts uniform.” Bill said, as if it was obvious.

“That sounds adorable!” Patty exclaimed as she giggled.

“It was not!” Stan yelled as his face went red.

“So if you aren’t dating, then what have you been doing?” Eddie asked, picking up his conversation from earlier with Richie.

“Well, a couple of nights ago, I got drunk off my ass and did a shit-ton of cocaine.” 

Eddie slapped the back of Richie’s head like Stan had earlier and laughed. Richie laughed too, but didn’t tell Eddie that he wasn’t joking.

Everyone laughed and playfully messed with each other for the entirety of the meal and even a little after. No one was drunk, but everyone had been drinking. They sat in the restaurant and cut themselves off to let the effects die down. Richie reluctantly stopped drinking. Bev gave him a knowing look, but he just waved her off.

“I seriously cannot believe you bought a fucking motorcycle. Don’t you know how dangerous those are?” Eddie grumbled as they walked out.

“It’s fun! Have you ever even been on one?” Richie laughed.

“Hell no! Why the fuck would I get on a fucking deathtrap willingly?” Eddie looked at Richie like he was insane.

Richie smiled and walked over to his bike. He grabbed the extra helmet from under the seat and held it out to Eddie. Eddie shook his head rapidly and turned to walk towards his car.

“C’mon Spaghetti. It’ll be fine, I promise.”

Eddie looked at Richie’s gentle smile. Everyone else had headed off towards Santa Monica by now and they were wasting time.

“Okay… but you have to take me back here to grab my car!” Eddie sighed hesitantly as he snatched the helmet from Richie’s hand, “If you kill me, you aren’t invited to my funeral.”

Richie laughed and straddled his bike, revving the engine.

“What’re you waiting for?” Richie asked as he zipped his jacket and put his helmet on

Eddie sighed again and slid his helmet on just as Richie had done. He walked over and cautiously sat behind Richie. He wrapped his arms around Richie’s middle and pressed the side of his face to Richie’s back.

“Ready?” Richie asked carefully.

“No.” Eddie grumbled as Richie laughed.

Richie kicked off and moved through the parking lot to make their way back to the highway. Traffic wasn’t as bad now in the later hours. Everyone coming home from work was already home, their nice cars parked in their nice driveways of their nice homes. Snug inside with their nice wife and nice kids and nice pajamas. Meanwhile, Eddie Kaspbrak had been talked into a suicide mission, and the only payoff for making it out alive was a fariswheel and some shit rollercoaster on the Santa Monica Pier.

“Close your eyes,” Richie ordered lightly.

“Why?” Eddie asked, confused.

“You’ll like it.” Richie said.

Eddie closed his eyes. It was a little less scary, but not seeing anything was a little unnerving. He heard the cars around him and felt the wind blowing past them as they drove. He developed a new appreciation for the bike. It was really beautiful if you stopped focusing on it. Eddie felt himself smile a little.

As they sped up on the highway, Eddie held Richie tighter. He took a deep breath in to try to calm his nerves, but all that happened was Richie filled his mind even more. Richie smelled of bourbon and coconut. There was a touch of fresh cigarette smoke, but it wasn’t as heavy as it had been in college. Eddie smiled and opened his eyes. The city was moving fast around him. The sunset made the lights around him bright and beautiful. He wished he could see Richie’s face too. It would be more beautiful than anything else Eddie could ever see. 

‘He’s probably smiling right now,’ Eddie thought to himself. 

Eddie had a bigger smile on his face now too. It was gentle and soft. He’s completely forgotten about the awful thing he was currently on. He stopped thinking about his own Escalade and being safe and comfortable in an actual seat. He  _ was _ safe. He  _ was  _ comfortable. Richie just does that to him. Richie makes everything okay somehow, and Eddie wants this moment to last forever.

“You okay back there?” Richie yelled over the roar of vehicles around them.

“Yeah, great actually.”

Eddie felt Richie’s laugh more than he actually heard it. It made him smile more than he already was. He sat and watched the cars around them along with the lights shining brighter now as the sun went further down into the ocean. After a while, he saw the lights of the pier in the distance and almost wished he had a few more full days of this. Holding Richie close and not having to care about anything. Richie slowed and parked his bike. Eddie reluctantly got off and slid the helmet off of his head.

“How was it?” Richie asked as he cocked his head and looked at Eddie with almost wonder in his eyes.

“It was… nice.” Eddie said quietly as he fixed his hair.

Everyone else climbed out of their cars to meet them in the middle of the parking lot.

“Where to first?” Ben asked cheerfully.

“To the beach!” Patty exclaimed as she drug Stan with her towards the ocean. Everyone laughed at Stan trying to keep up and made their way down with them. 

As Richie’s feet hit the sand, he toed off his shoes and tucked his socks into them. He dug his bare feet into the wet sand on the shoreline and took a seat. He turned his back to the ocean for a minute to watch his friends behind him. Bev and Patty were splashing around behind him, and even though he couldn’t see them right now, he could definitely hear them. He laughed a little to himself. The rest of the group that he could see was doing an assortment of other things. Stan was making little sand castles (which was one of the cutest things Richie’s ever seen… besides Eddie), Bill and Mike were sitting together and pointing out cloud shapes that were fading across the horizon, and Eddie was… wait, where the fuck was Eddie?

“I’ve missed this,” A quiet voice said beside him.

Richie jumped out of his skin and almost ran for the hills until he realized it was just Eddie. Eddie giggled at Richie being so startled.

“You literally almost made me piss my pants dude.” Richie said dramatically.

Eddie threw his head back and laughed again. It was the most beautiful thing Richie’s ever heard.

They turned around again to face the ocean. The two sat and watched the sun fall into the waves in front of them in silence. 

“Close your eyes,” Richie said suddenly.

Eddie rolled his eyes, but shut them anyway, “What the fuck is the point of this?”

Richie shushed him and closed his eyes as well. He was a little shaky again, but it wasn’t too bad. He wanted a drink, but that was a pretty constant thing for him at this point. When he felt like this but couldn’t have a bottle in his hand, he’d close his eyes like this. Just appreciate the world around him. The sounds of the seagulls were mostly gone at this point, but the waves were still there. The gentle crash and then pull back of the waves to the sand in front of them was calming. He felt a weight on his shoulder and opened his eyes to turn his head and see what was there. Eddie still had his eyes closed, but there was a gentle smile on his face now. His head was leaning on Richie’s shoulder and he looked peaceful. His prominent worry lines were almost gone now, and if Richie didn’t know better, he would’ve thought he was asleep. Richie brought his arm around Eddie and pulled him closer. He closed his eyes and smiled. The beautiful moment, however, was short lived, because Bev came up and flicked his forehead.

“C’mon, fucknut, it’s dark and I’m ready to fucking party.” She laughed.

Eddie opened his eyes and grumbled as Richie pulled them up to their feet together.

“Ferris wheel?” Asked Ben.

“Ferris wheel.” Everyone agreed.

They took their time making their way down to the ride, stopping for snacks and sometimes just stopping for one of them to harass another. Ben and Beverly seemed like they were off in their own world, laughing and telling stories. Patty had made herself very comfortable with everyone and was talking to Bill about the new book he’s been working on. Mike kept taking pictures and videos of everyone, and Stan was just enjoying the sights. Eddie was in a surprisingly great mood and was practically bouncing off the walls. Richie bought a beer and a bag of cotton candy on their way across the pier, which he then used to torment the rest of his friends. The beer was gone in quickly, and he started blowing over the top of the bottle to make the same monotone sound over and over again. He’d also occasionally ball up pieces of cotton candy and throw it at the backs of his friends’ heads until Bev took the bag and ate what little of it was left. Richie huffed and bit back a smile as he tossed the empty beer bottle into a trashcan. 

They all slowly packed onto the ferris wheel in pairs and Richie pulled Eddie into a cart with him. Eddie white knuckled the handlebar on the front of their cart as they slowly approached the top.

“Just close your eyes,” Richie said with a smile.

“Why do you keep making me do that?” Eddie asked.

“Sometimes things are just better that way. Sometimes you see things in a better light if you can’t really see them, ya know?” Richie rambled, “Also, you’re scared of, like, everything.” 

Eddie punched Richie lightly in the arm and tried to hide his obvious smile. The cart stopped.

“Woah,” Was all that came out of Eddie’s mouth.

“Pretty, right?” Richie asked as he put his arm around Eddie.

Eddie nodded and scooted over a bit, laying his head on Richie’s shoulder. Richie smiled and leaned his head on Eddie’s. Eddie sighed a happy sigh and closed his eyes.

-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-

“Thanks for… everything.” Eddie said shyly as he stepped off the motorcycle.

Richie blushed and nodded as he took the helmet back from Eddie’s hands.

“I’ll see you in 20?” Richie asked with a laugh.

“Yeah,” Eddie agreed with a smile.

The group had rented a beach house for a few days since none of them really had a big enough home for everyone to stay in. The rest of the group had already retreated back to the house. It was well past midnight now, but Richie has promised to drive Eddie back to get his car from the restaurant, so he did just that. 

Eddie climbed into the front seat of his Escalade and laughed as soon as he shut the door. He laughed more... and more... and more. He didn’t know why, but he felt it was necessary. He finally shook his head with a smile and buckled his seatbelt. He slowly pulled out of the parking lot and found his way to the Pacific highway.

Richie watched the whole thing through Eddie’s window and smiled fondly throughout the entire drive. 


	2. Summer Shandy

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Beach house livin'.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> tw // drug and alcohol abuse

Richie gapes at the sight in front of him, words on the tip of his tongue, but not a single sound coming out of his mouth.

“Oh, hey Rich,” Eddie replies as he gets up off the ground and dusts off his hands.

Richie, in all honesty, didn’t know why the god he didn’t believe in decided to punish him this morning. All he wanted to do was make a nice cup of coffee with a little rum, and sit outside while he waited for everyone else to wake up. Instead, as he goes to make his coffee, he almost drops his mug, because Eddie Kaspbrak is in the dining room… shirtless… doing pushups.

“You good?” Eddie asks, furrowing his brows.

Richie must nod or make some sound of agreement because Eddie gives a long, drawn out ‘okay’ and a raised eyebrow before walking back to his room, presumably to shower. Richie watches Eddie exit and then just stands there for a minute. He’s happy no one else is awake, or this would’ve been a lot worse than it already was. He finally shakes his head and makes his way over to the coffee pot. Eddie apparently already made coffee, because the pot was still fairly full and hot as hell. 

He grabbed a random mug, the bottle of Captain Morgan he had placed in the fridge last night, and the french vanilla creamer. He took a long sip of his sickeningly sweet concoction. The coffee burned his tongue a bit, but wasn’t too bad mixed with the cream and the cold rum. He carefully put the bottle back in the door of the fridge and shut it before leaving towards the patio.

“Richie!” Someone screamed from behind him. He turned around to see Bev and Ben, both looking ridiculously tired, but still laughing.

“What the fuck?” He asked. 

“We painted the town red!” Bev exclaimed as she tiredly pumped her fist into the air. Ben just stood next to her and nodded.

The two left the pier together and didn’t come home. Richie probably should have been worried, but he knew if something really bad happened, Ben would keep Beverly safe. They both looked hungover, tired, and disheveled, but that honestly wasn’t bad for a night in the city.

“What did you guys even do last night?” Richie asked, astounded.

“Went bar hopping, saw a drag show, swam,” Beverly listed as she counted on her fingers.

“And got chased by the cops!” Ben piped up.

Richie laughed quietly as Bev shushed Ben and slapped his bicep lightly. The two pulled Richie into a ridiculously tight group hug before stumbling back to their rooms. Richie shook his head and finally made it out to the patio, already being done with the day before it had even started.

Everyone (minus Bev and Ben) had showed up to the house late last night, so he hadn’t gotten a chance to explore the outside much. What he had done though, was drink a good amount of the Captain he’d grabbed earlier and explored the inside of the house. He wondered through their 5 bedroom beach house drunk to scope everything out while all of his friends were asleep. 

They had a nice size kitchen with everything they needed already stocked, and a big dining room. There was a foosball and air hockey table down in the basement, along with a huge TV and a dartboard. Patty and Stan shared the master bedroom. Bev and Ben each took the small single rooms, and Mike and Bill shared a room… which meant there was one bedroom left… which meant Eddie and Richie would share a bed.

It wasn’t really anything new, they did things like that a lot in high school and college, but it still made Richie’s face burn. He had passed out drunk on the couch last night, but there was no way he was stretching his mass of long limbs across that couch every night for the next week. The more he got lost in his thoughts, the less he felt bad for sleeping on the couch last night. He was just being nice and respecting Eddie’s privacy. As long as he could keep pretending he wasn’t some awful alcoholic, this would all end pretty well. Part of him wished he had left with Ben and Beverly last night, but as of right now, Eddie still sees him as a perfectly normal, healthy human being that has no issues controlling themselves. He smiled to himself as he continued to watch the waves and sip his coffee.

“Hey fucknut,” Eddie said as he sat down in the chair to Richie’s right. He had a mug of black coffee, and thankfully, was wearing a shirt.

Richie smiled at him and before making a disgusted face and looking at his coffee, “You know they say only psychopaths and serial killers drink black coffee, right?”   


“Damn, you figured me out. This was all just an elaborate ploy to kill all of you.” Eddie said with an eye roll.

“I knew it! There’s no way you’d ever put up with me for a week just to do it.”  They both laugh and slip into a comfortable silence, the sound of the crashing waves filling the void.

“Bev and Ben got back late, huh?” Eddie laughed again.

“God, don’t even get me started on those two.” Richie said as he shook his head.

“You remember doing shit like that in college?” Eddie asks.

“Yeah…” Richie goes quiet again.

“Hey Eds?” Richie asks after a while, his voice cracking.

“What’s up?”

“I think something’s wrong with me,” Richie says simply but quietly.

“Rich, I’m sure there's nothing wrong with y-”

“I think I’m having some weird mid-life crisis thing.” Richie cuts in.

Eddie stops trying to respond and just looks at him, confused.

“I bought this dumbass motorcycle, I’m an alcoholic, and I still smoke as much weed and snort as much cocaine as I did four years ago. Fuck, I have to take prescription Leaxapro now because I can’t do fucking anything without freaking the fuck out.” Richie had started to hyperventilate.

Eddie put his hand over Richie’s, and Richie stopped breathing entirely.

“I’m sure it isn’t that bad, and it’s definitely not a mid-life crisis, you’re 28. Besides, you’re still the same Richie that I met in 2nd grade… so I think you’re pretty damn great.”

Richie had started to cry a little. Whenever he talks about all the bad shit he does, he gets a little choked up (not that he’d talked to anyone but his ceiling about it), but hearing Eddie comfort him made all of his walls crumble. 

Eddie scooted a little closer and rubbed Richie’s back, trying to help him with his bluesy state. They sat like that for a while, even after Richie stopped crying.

“You’re more than just some bad boy trashmouth, Rich.” Eddie has said eventually.

Richie had to stop himself from crying again, but he picked his head up and smiled at Eddie. Eddie smiled back and stood, pulling Richie up with him by his hand.

“C’mon, Patty and Mike said they'd make breakfast for everyone.”

Richie followed Eddie into the house, their hand still connected. As the glass doors were slid open, the smell of bacon and pancakes hit him immediately. He smiled as he saw Patty and Mike both at the stove, flipping pancakes and frying bacon as Stan was setting the dining table. He placed the 8th plate and smiled up at Richie, who gave him a little wave with his and Eddie’s hands. He reluctantly broke their hands apart after a moment.

“I’ll be right back, just got to go grab something,” Richie explained as he headed off towards hea and Eddie's room. He grabbed an unopened water bottle from his nightstand and one of the pill bottles from his bag. He popped one into his mouth and swallowed after checking three different times that the bottle actually said Lexapro. He quickly put the caps back on both different containers and tucked the pills back into his duffel. He walked out, shut the door behind him, and headed down the hallway, back towards the kitchen. 

There were seven different voices, all of them in their own conversations and talking over each other. He smiled and pulled a chair out to sit in. He took his seat next to Stan, who was at one head of the rectangular glass table, and Eddie, who was sitting in the middle, now sandwiched between Richie and Mike. He threw a few pancakes onto his plate along with some bacon and two pieces of toast. 

Richie looked around the table to see Bill at the other head, Patty on Stan’s left, and surprisingly, Beverly next to her, with Ben filling the 8th chair. Ben looked tired, but Beverly looked like she was on crack. She was somehow still her loud, bubbly, energetic self. 

“Rough night?” Bill asked Ben.

“You know, it’s funny,” Richie began, “I just asked Eddie’s mom the same thing, but I already know her answer.” 

Richie cackled as Eddie lightly hit his arm. 

“Beep beep Richie!” Everyone shouted through laughs.

“Yeah, let the dead rest, Trashmouth,” Eddie giggled.

“When and why did you all start calling him that?” Patty asked through laughs.

“Since we were 12, maybe 13,” Mike said while trying to think back, “He could never keep his mouth shut.”

“Well I’ve known him for less than 48 hours, and I can already say that's fitting,” Patty said as she raised her glass of orange juice to her lips.

Laughter erupted from the whole table again before they all actually started eating their delicious home cooked breakfast.

Richie got distracted multiple times over breakfast. Whenever Eddie would look at him with those amazing big brown eyes of his, he’d almost let his fork clatter to the ground. He could get lost in those eyes, and sometimes he really does. He’d of course be brought back to the rest of the group by a loud laugh or someone calling his name, but that didn’t mean he wouldn’t stare into Eddie’s eyes again 5 minutes later.

Eventually everyone, including Richie, made it through breakfast. The group all pitched in to help clean up, but they all separated for the most part after. Ben and Beverly more than likely went back to bed, despite acting awake enough during breakfast. Mike and Bill went for a walk on the beach while Stan and Patty left to go sightseeing. 

“Want to go back to our room and watch a movie?” Eddie asked Richie after everyone else had left.

“Sure,” Richie shrugged.

They made their way back to their room after raiding their kitchen for some popcorn. Richie turned on the TV perched on their dresser and dug through the extensive movie collection. He and Eddie eventually decided on Jaws, both laughing about watching it at their beach house on the ocean.

The two tangled together on the king size bed like they had done on Richie’s twin in high school. They fell asleep 45 minutes in. Both of them had a light blush dusted across their faces the entire time.

-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-

After everyone’s much needed relaxing, they all agreed to go sit down on the beach. They’d all been passing around a blunt for about 5 minutes and telling stories to make everyone laugh. All of them had been drinking too, but Richie being the drunkest with Bev close behind.

“I don’t know about you guys,” Bev slurred and wobbled as she stood, “but I’m going swimming.” 

She stripped down into her undergarments like she had at the quarry all those years ago and ran into the waves. The rest of her friends all followed close behind, whooping and hollering the entire way.

“We shouldn’t have watched Jaws,” Eddie mumbled as he stepped in far enough for the water to reach his waist.

Richie laughed and slung an arm around him, almost knocking Eddie over from the force of it. Everyone was shivering lightly, but the cold water was a much needed relief from the hot night LA air. 

“I missed doing things like this,” Eddie said with a nostalgic smile, “I want to fuck around like this every damn day with you guys.” 

Everyone made noises of agreement and quickly went back to splashing around and chasing each other.

“That would be fucking great, Eds,” Richie said.

“This is really living, huh?” Eddie said, gesturing to their friends around them. Bev and Patty were running through the waves, chasing each other and laughing. Bill. Mike, Ben, and Stan were all attempting to engage in a chicken fight in the deeper water. Bill was on Mike’s shoulders and Stan was on Ben’s. Bill and Mike quickly topped over in a roar of laughter.

“It really is,” Richie agreed.

“Wait, what the fuck is that!?!” Eddie screamed suddenly while pointing down.

Richie leaned his head down closer towards the water to try to see what Eddie was talking about, but once he was only inches away from the water, his head was pushed under. 

He picked his head up and wiped his eyes only to be met with Eddie cackling.

“Oh, you little shit, you’re really going to get it!” Richie yelled through his laughs.

Eddie screamed and ran as quickly as he could with the water slowing him down. Richie eventually tackled him and they both ended up drenched and underwater.

After the moon had steadily moved across the sky, everyone agreed to go back into the house, dry off, and get ready for bed.

“I'm going to take a quick shower, okay?” Eddie announced while grabbing some clothes from his suitcase and walking out the door.

Richie shot him a thumbs up before shutting and locking the door, just long enough for him to throw on some new boxers and a t-shirt. He left towards the living room, going into the kitchen for just a minute to grab one last beer before sitting on the couch. He mindlessly sipped his beer and flipped through channels on the barely audible television. Everyone else was already going to sleep, and he really didn’t want to wake anyone.

After about twenty minutes, Eddie came out of the bathroom in fresh shorts and a t-shirt with some 80’s kids show plastered across the front of it. He was rubbing his hair with a towel before he threw it into the hamper and came to sit with Richie on the couch. He tucked himself under Richie’s arm and laid on him for a bit before getting so sleepy he could barely keep his eyes open.

“I think I’m going to hit the hay,” Eddie yawned as he stood from the couch and stretched. 

Richie nodded, tossing his empty beer into the trash and sprawling out a bit more on the couch. Eddie gave him one last glance as he closed the door to their bedroom. Richie sighed as the door shut and closed his eyes, listening to the quiet mumbles from Full House that was currently on Nick@Nite. 

He laid like that for maybe only five minutes before the bedroom door opened again. 

“Aren’t you coming?” Eddie asked with a small smile as he leaned against the doorway.

Richie smiled a gentle smile back before shutting the TV off, placing the remote on the coffee table, and joining Eddie in their room.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter was so damn fluffy.
> 
> Come hangout on Twitter!  
> @MiloAaronRichie
> 
> :))

**Author's Note:**

> Come say hi on Twitter!  
> @MiloAaronRichie
> 
> Chapters will be released once a week, but if something changes, I'll announce it on Twitter!


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